


Save Me And I Will Save You

by milkywei



Series: serva me servabo te [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, Alternate Universe - Police, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-14 17:42:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11213010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkywei/pseuds/milkywei
Summary: The NCT Unit, led by Lee Taeyong, is one of the National Intelligence Service's top teams for its domestic affairs division. It boasts some of the best agents in the NIS, and Jung Jaehyun is proud to be one of them.When the NCT Unit is called to investigate the death of a company director, the team realises that the case entails more than just capturing an unknown murderer. Following this case, Jaehyun revisits a ghost from his past and crosses paths with a mysterious courtesan named Dong Sicheng.





	1. greek tragedy

**Author's Note:**

> ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: character deaths, depictions of violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: minor character death

“JUNG JAEHYUN!”

The sound of sneakers hitting asphalt echoed throughout the neighbourhood. “Must be those elementary school kids again,” one of the neighbourhood aunties commented. Just as she said so, a tall young man ran past her, followed by a lady who was screaming threats as she chased the man down.

Needless to say, the neighbourhood aunties were astonished by the sight of two adults chasing each other down the street.

“Jaehyun, I swear to god I’ll kick your ass all the way to Busan when I catch you!”

“I’d like to see you try!” Jung Jaehyun laughed as he listened to his best friend’s threats while running away from her. He spotted the iron fences of the neighbourhood park and started to sprint towards it. With the added boost, he managed to swiftly jump and grab the topmost horizontal bar of the iron fence. By kicking his feet off the fence, he gathered momentum and swung his body so that he would end up on the other side of the fence.

Lee Hyejeong gaped as she watched her best friend perfectly land on the ground after his stunt. Jaehyun teasingly stuck out his tongue from across the fence and held up the piece of paper he had taken from Hyejeong. Hyejeong cursed her best friend’s athletic abilities as she watched him walk leisurely into the park.

She quickly made her way to the front entrance of the park. Jung Jaehyun would be a dead man once she got her hands on him.

 

Once he felt that he was hidden from Hyejeong’s sight, Jaehyun opened up the piece of paper which caused the chase in the first place. It had slipped out of Hyejeong’s bag when she was taking out her wallet. Jaehyun had picked it up and spotted the hospital crest on the top of the paper. Naturally, he was curious as to what it was. They were best friends, they never had to hide anything from each other. But Hyejeong’s eyes widened when she saw Jaehyun holding the paper and she tried to snatch it back. “What’s on this paper that you’re not letting me see?” Jaehyun asked, holding the paper out of Hyejeong’s reach.

“Nothing that I can tell you yet!” Hyejeong yelled, desperately trying to reach up for the paper. That was when Jaehyun took off running, leaving his best friend screaming after him.

Jaehyun was the epitome of curiosity killed the cat. He did not even care if he was going to get murdered by his best friend after that (which she was definitely capable of) but he was more curious as to what was on that paper.

His eyes scanned the contents of the paper and with each new information presented to him, he felt that his brain was unable to process it. As he was still trying to process the information on the paper, he did not notice Hyejeong running towards his direction. His best friend tackled him to the ground and straddled him so that he could not escape. “You piece of shit of a best friend, you!” Hyejeong shouted, hitting him with her bag at each word.

“Wait, wait!” Jaehyun yelled, covering his face to defend himself from her ruthless blows. Hyejeong did not seem to stop so Jaehyun shouted instead, “YOU’RE PREGNANT!”

The hitting stopped but Hyejeong was still breathing hard. Jaehyun slowly lowered his arms to look at her. His best friend had tears in her eyes and she was glaring knives at Jaehyun.

“Yes, I’m pregnant, you idiot!” Hyejeong cried in frustration, “How dare you make a pregnant woman run like that!”

 

Jaehyun held an ice pop to his cheek to lessen the swelling from Hyejeong’s bag. He was quite convinced that she had stuffed a rock in there just to hit him with it. On the other end of the bench, Hyejeong was listlessly sucking on her ice pop.

Jaehyun would be lying if he were to say that he was not disappointed in Hyejeong for not telling him first. But looking at how out of it she looked now, he was starting to feel bad that he even forced her to tell him in the first place.

“So… How long have you known?” Jaehyun asked, leaning towards Hyejeong’s side in an attempt to be closer.

“It’s been about a month,” she replied, still not looking at Jaehyun, “I’m 10 weeks in.”

Jaehyun bit his lip as he thought about Hyejeong having to keep this from him for a month. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“I didn’t have anything planned out yet, okay?” Hyejeong said. She was gripping her ice pop so tightly that it was turning into syrup.

Jaehyun sighed and held Hyejeong by the shoulders, turning her to face him. “Lee Hyejeong, are you dumb or are you dumb?” Jaehyun sternly asked, “Did you forget why I’m here as your best friend? Did you think that I would let you go through this alone? Just who do you think I am?”

His words made Hyejeong smile and she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Jaehyun felt more at ease with the change. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Jae,” Hyejeong said to him.

“It’s fine, I forgive you,” Jaehyun replied, patting her head. “Now is the father going to take responsibility here or do I have to beat up some jerk and force him to pay child support?”

“I… haven’t told him yet,” Hyejeong admitted, “I was planning to do so after meeting you today.”

Jaehyun chewed on his lower lip. “Is he somebody I know?” he asked.

Hyejeong shook her head. “He’s someone I met at Gangnam…” she replied, “We’ve seen each other a few times. He’s a nice guy but I don’t know how he’ll react when I tell him.”

“Oh,” was all Jaehyun said. Hyejeong was beautiful, of course she would have met a lot of men. She was popular with guys even since high school. Their friendship sometimes got in the way of the relationships Hyejeong had but she would always put Jaehyun first. There were few guys who could understand this so the ones who did not were welcomed by Hyejeong to leave. Jaehyun always felt like he was in the way sometimes but Hyejeong would assure him that he was not.

“Today isn’t supposed to be about me, it’s supposed to be all about you,” she sighed.

Their meeting today was supposed to celebrate Jaehyun’s acceptance to the police academy. Tomorrow, he would already be two hours away from Seoul for his training. They had been talking about this since high school. Jaehyun had always wanted to join the NIS and become a field agent. He had been working very hard to get into the academy for the required training and tomorrow would finally be the day his dreams became closer in his reach.

“I’m only going to be two hours away,” Jaehyun told her with a grin, “And it’s not like I don’t have the weekends off. It’s just going to be like when I was in the military all over again.”

Hyejeong chuckled at Jaehyun’s witty remark. “Yeah, that went by quite fast,” she said.

Jaehyun took her hand and lightly squeezed it. “You better not keep me in the dark again, okay? Or I’ll go all Rumpelstiltskin on you and steal your firstborn away,” he chided her.

Hyejeong laughed, “You don’t have to do that because I promise that I’ll update you about every craving and every kick. I’ll even name you the baby’s godfather.”

Jaehyun looked at Hyejeong, his eyes big. “Really? You’d do that?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes, Jae,” Hyejeong replied with a smile, “We’ve been best friends since we were in diapers. Of course I would want you to be involved in my child’s life as well.”

Hyejeong was surprised when Jaehyun suddenly pulled her into a hug. The taller male immediately buried his face in Hyejeong’s shoulder, a telltale sign that he was embarrassed or shy about something. Hyejeong giggled knowingly, “Are you crying?”

“No,” Jaehyun sniffled, his voice muffled by Hyejeong’s shirt.

“Gosh, you’re so emotional for a guy,” Hyejeong laughed, patting Jaehyun’s back.

“Shush… Let me have my moment,” Jaehyun muttered.

His best friend smiled, leaning her head against his. “Okay.”

 

* * *

 

The elevator doors open at the 15th floor of the NIS office in Seoul. Kim Doyoung walks out of the elevator, a stack of manila folders in his hands. He places the folders on his desk and heaves a long sigh. Across from him, Kang Seulgi eyes the folders in sympathy but an amused smile plays on her lips.

“I’m guessing that you lost a bet with Jaehyun,” Seulgi says.

Doyoung opens his mouth, about to answer, but another voice replies for him instead, “Nope, he lost to my son in Mario Kart.”

Jaehyun emerges with another stack of folders and places them on the existing stack on Doyoung’s desk. The special agent rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, glaring at the folders as if they would disappear if he does so hard enough. “In my defense, I have never played Mario Kart before,” Doyoung claims.

“What are you talking about,” Jaehyun says incredulously, “You always insist that Jeno plays with you every time you come over-”

“Objection!” Doyoung yells, cutting Jaehyun off before he can say anything else. Seulgi can only laugh as the two continue their ridiculous banter.

“You should have just become a lawyer in the first place,” Jaehyun comments, rubbing his chin.

“Yeah, that would’ve increased your chances with Miss Attorney,” Seulgi adds on with a grin.

Doyoung turns red at the mention of his love interest. It is no big secret that he is harbouring a crush on one of the resident attorneys of the NIS. It is just that Doyoung gets so flustered about it every time it is mentioned so the other special agents like to tease him about it.

“I can’t believe the two of you are ganging up on me!” Doyoung whines as Seulgi and Jaehyun laugh and share a high-five together.

While the three are at their desks, unit chief Lee Taeyong and senior special agent Nam Dawon walk into the office. The both of them are amused and not surprised that once again Doyoung has became the target for teasing. “Are you starting the Doyoung roast without me?” Taeyong voices out, earning himself laughter from everyone except Doyoung.

“This has to be workplace harassment,” Doyoung mutters. “I’m sueing.”

“Well, you can call the lovely Miss Attorney later, right now we have a case,” Dawon says. “All the files are on your tablets. I’ll set up the conference room for the briefing.”

 

* * *

 

The Domestic Affairs division of the NIS has seen a rise in the number of violent crime cases over the past few years. The NCT unit, led by Lee Taeyong, is one of the newer units formed under the Domestic Affairs division. The NCT unit specialises in crimes in the newer cities. It is quite a new unit and boasts talented agents which Taeyong has hand picked himself.

Nam Dawon is a senior special agent and linguistics expert. She is second in command when Taeyong is not around. On the field, she is a very competent agent with excellent analysing skills. Dawon is the cold to Taeyong’s hot and it balances the dynamics of the team very well. Jaehyun has to admit, Dawon has helped him a lot when it comes to childcare, having a few children herself.

Professor Kim Dongyoung, or better known as Doyoung, is the team’s Technical Analyst. He is incredibly smart but sometimes lacks sense, making him a favourite target for teasing. He has a masters in Psychology and a P.h.D in Engineering. Despite his credentials, Doyoung is actually one of the youngest in the team along with Jaehyun. This is why Doyoung regularly receives the unit’s banter when he is not off making sarcastic comebacks.

Jaehyun himself is part of Special Operations, where he takes care of the dirtier parts of the investigation. Along with him is Kang Seulgi, who is the resident badass of the unit. Seulgi looks demure but she can actually beat a guy in a fight. Together with Jaehyun, they make up the brawns of the unit. Seulgi has been a great mentor to Jaehyun since he entered the NCT unit. Being the newest and the youngest in the team, he feels like he is lacking in certain ways but he has grown to be more confident with Seulgi as his partner.

Lastly, Lee Taeyong, the one who brought all of them together, is the unit chief. His name is very well-known in the NIS office. Jaehyun met him when they were both still in the police academy, Taeyong being his senior. Taeyong gives off an intimidating vibe but he is a great leader and the team looks up to him a lot. He may be difficult to get through sometimes, but he often puts the team’s safety as his top priority.

The NCT unit may be small, but it has had many cases under its belt, ranging from serial killings to abductions. Jaehyun has been working in the unit for about a few months now, taking part in the investigations of some of those cases himself. When he got to know that Taeyong was forming this unit, he had asked to be recommended for it. His sole purpose for joining the unit was clear, to catch his best friend’s murderer and make sure that the person is brought to justice.

He wishes that he could turn back time and prevent that night from ever happening. It still comes to Jaehyun as a nightmare every time he thinks about it. He has read up a lot about Hyejeong’s case, even reviewing the investigations, but the only substantial thing that comes up is Seven, the new cities’ own gangster syndicate. Efforts have been carried out to stop their criminal activities, but to no avail. Seven is as good a ghost to the NIS.

But Jaehyun will not give up, he simply cannot. Not when Hyejeong’s son is alive and possibly in danger.

 

* * *

 

Jaehyun walks into the conference room with a tray of coffee cups. The other agents have already taken their seats and are reading the case file through their tablets. On the screen, there is a profile picture of a man in his mid-forties and next to it is another picture of the same man, this time lying on the ground with a bullet hole in his head.

“Park Hojoon, 46 years old,” Taeyong presents. “He was found dead in his office at Songdo. Gunshot wound to the head – he was killed instantaneously.”

“The place looks too clean to be a crime scene,” Seulgi points out. The pictures of the crime scene show a very clean and tidy office. None of the furniture are moved or look out of place.

“It’s such a clean and precise shot,” Doyoung comments, zooming into the picture of the wound. “Did they manage to find the bullet which killed him?”

“Yes,” Dawon replies, “The bullet is of point 5 inch caliber, 12.7mm in diameter.”

“Sounds like he could have been sniped,” Jaehyun suggests, “Explains why there is not much collateral damage.”

“I’ve already asked the district police to expand the crime scene by a few kilometers,” Dawon informs the team, “I’ve also requested CCTV footage from all the buildings in that radius.”

“Well, he is the director of one of Songdo’s biggest tech firms,” Doyoung says, “It could be a jealousy strike or even an act of revenge.”

“He seems to be well liked by others, though,” Seulgi counters, looking hard at the victim’s profile, “All of his employees praise him and even his competitors speak good things about him.”

“I guess we can’t really come up with anything conclusive until we actually look into it ourselves,” Jaehyun says, glancing at the unit chief, who has been quiet throughout the briefing. Taeyong is the type to sit silently in a briefing while the others theorise about possible conclusions. However, it seems that all the theories have been presented as all eyes are on him to give out the next set of instructions.

“Doyoung, you take a look at the footage and see if you can find anything. Also, dig up everything you can about the victim. We’ll see if there are any missing links. Dawon, go talk to Park Hojoon’s sons and try to find out more information from them,” Taeyong tells them, both agents acknowledging their tasks, “Meanwhile, Seulgi and I will go to the crime scene to see what else we’ve missed out.”

The other agents have started getting up from their seats and Jaehyun wonders if Taeyong realises that he has left him out. “What about me?” he asks the unit chief.

“Jaehyun,” Taeyong says, clapping his hands on the agent's shoulders. “I’ve got a special task just for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after months of being a mere headplot, i'm finally writing this series out! there may be some loopholes here and there but i'll hope to sort it out as i write and come back to edit in the future. i'll also be adding more character tags as i go.  
> if you're reading this, thank you so much for starting this journey with me! i foresee that it's gonna be a long(ass) ride. as much as i'm excited to write this, i hope that you'll look forward to it as well ♡


	2. a rush of blood to the head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two significant encounters in Jaehyun's life.

Jaehyun finds himself staring up at a 40-storey tall abandoned building nestled at the end of a street in Songdo. It is an old apartment complex which has been empty for quite some time. The building has been cordoned off with construction barricades, a warning plate pasted on it. The plate reads that the building is scheduled for demolition in a few days. A perfect place for someone who would want to hide their tracks, as mentioned by Taeyong. He has told Jaehyun to investigate any abandoned buildings within the vicinity of Park Corp. Fortunately for him, there is only one, a few kilometers east of the crime scene.

The building is starting to show chips off the walls from lack of maintenance. The agent notices an open window on the fourth floor of the building, nearest to the barricade.

“There’s an entrance over at the back,” Doyoung tells Jaehyun over his headset.

“What gave you the impression that I needed an entrance?” Jaehyun asks him. With that, he makes a run towards the barricade, jumping and kicking his feet off of it. The momentum flies him over the barricade and he grabs onto a horizontal pole jutting out from the building. He makes his way to the other end of the pole, nearer to the building, and grabs onto a crevice on the wall, hanging off the side. Jaehyun reaches onto the next crevice and climbs up the building towards the open window, successfully entering the apartment complex.

“It was a mere suggestion,” Doyoung says when Jaehyun is adjusting his headset, which has slipped off his ear during the climb. The agent snickers and takes out his flashlight, getting ready to explore the building.

“If I applied for the field agent training, do you think she will notice me?” the technical analyst asks wistfully.

“I don’t think you’ll survive the training to find out,” Jaehyun comments as he walks up the stairs. “Have you even tried talking to her?”

He hears Doyoung sigh at the other end. “You make it sound like it’s so easy,” Doyoung mutters.

“You should try it some time,” Jaehyun chuckles in reply, “Girls are pleasant to talk to.”

“Of course you’d think so,” Doyoung says dryly, “You don’t even like-”

The technical analyst is interrupted by a ping from his computer. Jaehyun hears Doyoung clicking his mouse and typing on the keyboard. “Hey, check your phone. I sent you something,” Doyoung tells him.

Jaehyun takes out his phone and clicks on the photo which Doyoung has sent him. It is from the CCTV footage which Doyoung has been reviewing. In it shows a street with the abandoned building Jaehyun is at in the distance. Doyoung has zoomed into one of the higher floors, where a long barrel of a rifle is protruding out from one of the windows. “On a normal computer, it would just be dismissed as a pixelated blob,” Doyoung casually comments.

“Are you saying that you’re a tech genius?” Jaehyun asks while running up the stairs and pushing at every door to check if it has been recently opened.

Doyoung has the grace to gasp and gush, “I’m so touched that you think that way!”

Jaehyun resists the urge to roll his eyes. He reaches one floor where the door is held open by a brick and stops in his tracks. With one hand on standby over his gun holster, the agent walks through the door. He finds himself in a narrow hallway with doors on either side. Jaehyun slowly walks through the hallway, jiggling the door knobs to check if the locks have been tampered with.

On one of the doors, the knob turns and Jaehyun pauses when he has turned it fully. Taking a breath, he opens the door and bursts into the apartment, pointing his gun in front of him. There turns out to be nobody in the apartment. Everything seems to be in place, save for the area near the open window. A chair from the dining area has been pulled towards the window. The floor around it is littered with cigarette ash and a Cadbury chocolate wrapper lies discarded on the floor. Jaehyun walks towards the window to take a look at the view. From where he is standing, he can perfectly see the building of Park Hojoon’s company. He is sure that if he had binoculars or a scope, he would even get a perfect view of Park Hojoon’s office. Jaehyun notices that the metal of the windowsill is slightly dented from having something heavy pressed down on it. He has found where the killer fired the shot.

“Hey Doyoung,” Jaehyun says to his receiver, “Tell Taeyong that the forensics team needs to prepare for a whole lot of stairs.”

 

The field agents regroup at the initial crime scene, where Taeyong and Seulgi have been investigating at. “Jaehyun, when I told you to investigate abandoned buildings, I didn’t expect you to become one with them,” Taeyong comments, watching as Jaehyun dusts the rubble off his shirt.

“Your exact words were, ‘Jaehyun, I’m leaving the dirty work to you’,” Jaehyun replies wittily, grinning.

Dawon comes in with Park Hojoon’s oldest son, Jungwoo. He is the image of what a chaebol heir should be, confident and charismatic, but the soft lines on his face give away his age. Park Jungwoo has a boyish face with round eyes and plump lips. Even though he is wearing a tailored suit, he barely looks like he is in his twenties.

“Mr Park, I’m special agent Lee. These are special agent Kang and special agent Jung,” Taeyong introduces, gesturing to Seulgi and Jaehyun respectively, “We’re sorry for your loss.”

“Please, call me Jungwoo,” Jungwoo insists, “Mr Park has always been my father. It’s… still difficult getting used to it.”

“Jungwoo,” Taeyong repeats. “I understand.”

“I told Agent Nam everything I know about my father,” Jungwoo says, “If there is anything else that I can help with, I’ll be more than willing to.”

“Thank you, Jungwoo,” the unit chief replies, “Our main priority now is to keep you and your younger brother safe. We don’t know what the motive of the murderer is yet and can only assume that the two of you may be targets too.”

“Right,” Jungwoo sighs, absentmindedly brushing back his hair. “Jisung’s still devastated. He was very close with our father since our mother died when he was little.”

Jaehyun knows about this as he has read the brief on the Park siblings. Park Jisung, the youngest son of Park Hojoon, is only 8 years old, 3 years younger than his son. He can only imagine how terrible it is to lose a parent at that age; it has been a long time since he adopted Jeno but he still worries about how he can help Jeno whenever he misses his mother.

“We’ll find the person who did this,” Jaehyun assures Jungwoo.

Jungwoo’s lips curve up into a bittersweet smile, his eyes shadowed by something Jaehyun recognises to be sadness. “Thank you, agent Jung,” the young heir replies.

 

* * *

 

Jaehyun’s first meeting with Hyejeong’s son was one of the memories he would never forget. When Jeno was born, Jaehyun was in America for his field training. He had only seen the boy on FaceTime when Hyejeong called him from time to time. Jeno was already 3 years old when he returned to Korea. Hyejeong insisted that he should meet Jeno as soon as possible. He was cooking dinner for their visit and the doorbell had rung. The first sound Jaehyun heard when he pressed the intercom was a high-pitched, “Uncle Jaehyun, we are here!”

A few moments later, he saw his best friend enter his house with a mini version of herself. The boy was shy and kept close to his mother. He was hugging a stuffed lion in his arms and he kept looking at Jaehyun, as if he was not sure whether it was really Jaehyun he was looking at.

“Jeno yah, that’s Uncle Jaehyun from the videos, don’t you remember?” Hyejeong told Jeno as she helped him take off his shoes.

Jaehyun instinctively squatted down, so that he was on the boy’s eye level. He smiled and waved and Jeno shyly smiled back but the boy was still cautiously holding onto Hyejeong’s hand. “Did you remember, you told me that you were going to give Uncle Jaehyun the biggest hug ever,” Hyejeong whispered to her son.

Jaehyun opened his arms, grinning widely. “Jeno yah, Uncle Jae needs a hug!” he said in the cutest voice he could come up with.

With that, Jeno ran to him and gave him a big hug, burying his face in Jaehyun’s shoulder. “Hello, Uncle Jaehyun,” Jeno shyly recited, “I missed you.”

That was when Jaehyun immediately fell in love. He smiled and hugged the boy back. “I missed you too, kiddo,” he softly said.

 

Jeno was 5 years old when Jaehyun adopted him. Hyejeong’s family members were untraceable and there were no other relatives that Jeno could live with. Even the identity of Jeno’s father was one big question mark as Hyejeong had mentioned that they had broken up shortly after Jeno was born.

So Jaehyun took him in. It was a tough time for Jaehyun during those few months. He had just lost his best friend and he was struggling to juggle between his job and taking care of Jeno. Change was not exactly something which Jaehyun was open to and it made a mess out of him for six whole months but he had never regretted adopting Jeno.

On days where it got too tough for Jaehyun to carry on, he would always be reminded of tiny blessings by the little boy whom he fell in love with. Raising Jeno almost always assured that Jaehyun had something to look forward to when he got home. The boy was full of personality and surprises, and it reminded Jaehyun of his best friend. In a way, it was reassuring for him that a part of Hyejeong was alive with the little boy.

 

* * *

 

“Park Corp was involved in a tender for a major international project,” Doyoung explains when the team is back at the NIS headquarters, “However a few days ago, Park Hojoon pulled out from the tender without any clarification, a week before the signing is supposed to happen. At least, that’s what the article says.”

Jaehyun scrolls down on his tablet to read the online article which Doyoung has sent to them. The article mainly talks about Park Hojoon’s success with Park Corp but does not mention much about what the tender or the major international project is about. That is probably why Doyoung brought up the point in the first place.

“Jungwoo said that his father had been receiving threats up till the day of his death,” Dawon mentioned, “But he could not tell me what the threats were about and I find that very strange.”

“Why so?” Jaehyun asks.

“Well, he told me the exact date and time the letters arrived,” Dawon tells the team, “But when I asked him about what was written on the letters, he started talking about other things. I tried bringing up the letters again but he just avoided the topic completely.”

“He’s definitely hiding something,” Taeyong concludes, rubbing his chin. “So that’s the second thing that we need to find out.”

“This case is starting to get more and more complicated,” Seulgi mutters as she takes a look at the case board, “From the sniper to the tender to the threats, there should be something that links all of them together but what exactly is it?”

“If it was that easy, they wouldn’t have handed this case over to us, would they?” Doyoung points out.

“Then we’ll look for that link,” Taeyong says to the team, “And it’s only starting to get much harder from here on.”

 

After the meeting, Jaehyun gets a call from his houseline. “Dad, are you coming home soon?” Jeno’s voice comes from the other end.

Jaehyun glances at the clock and winces when he notices that it is already 8.30PM. “I’m sorry, work ended late,” he tells him, “Where’s Mark?”

Mark is the uni student who lives a few blocks down from Jaehyun. He often comes over to keep Jeno company (Jeno absolutely refuses to call him a _babysitter_ ) until Jaehyun comes home from work. “Mark hyung left an hour ago because he has a party to go to,” Jeno replies, “You’re going to be home… right?”

Jaehyun slaps a palm over his face as he remembers Mark mentioning his track team’s party to him a few days ago. He feels even more guilty for not keeping track of time and leaving Jeno alone. The boy gets really nervous when he is left alone at home, especially at night. “I’m leaving the office now,” Jaehyun replies, already thinking of ways to make it up to Jeno, “I’ll be home soon, okay?”

“Okay,” Jeno says, sounding more bright, “Oh, it’s pouring so drive safe!”

Jaehyun smiles at his thoughtfulness. “I will,” he assures him. When Jaehyun puts down the call, Taeyong emerges from his private office, looking deep in thought. Knowing Taeyong, that look can only mean that he is making up theories in his head or going to do something daring. The glint in his eyes makes Jaehyun go for the latter.

“It’s a thunderstorm out there,” Jaehyun tells him, “You’re not thinking of riding in this weather, are you?”

Taeyong groans as he realises that all his options are worn out. “I have to be somewhere in half an hour,” he mutters.

“I could give you a ride,” Jaehyun offers, “Where are you going?”

The unit chief stares at Jaehyun, as if contemplating whether to take his offer. Jaehyun raises an eyebrow at Taeyong’s silence. Eventually Taeyong caves in but he is still reluctant to reveal where he is going. “Okay, I’m going to Hongdae,” he finally says.

Taeyong begins to regret it when the straight line of Jaehyun’s mouth curves up into a smirk. “Yes, it’s a date,” Taeyong quickly says, “And you’re not allowed to tell the others.” With that, Taeyong speedwalks to the lift to hide his embarrassment.

“I didn’t even say anything,” Jaehyun chuckles as he follows behind his boss.

 

After dropping Taeyong off at a cafe in Hongdae, Jaehyun stops by a mini mart to get ice-cream for Jeno. Jaehyun has to squint to let his eyes adjust to the bright fluorescent lights of the mart after coming from a dimly-lit street. There are not that many people in the mart and the part-timer at the cashier is watching dramas on her phone. The radio is being broadcasted through the speakers, with a mellow tune playing to match the late night.

Jaehyun walks over to the frozen section to look at the selection of ice-creams on sale. A man is standing near the freezer, leaning onto one of the shelves while fiddling with his phone. He meets Jaehyun’s eye and gives him a smile and a nod before returning his attention back to his phone. Jaehyun nods back in acknowledgement and looks to his right to see a young man in skintight leather pants standing in front of the cooler. His eyes are downcast as he is looking at the drinks on the bottom shelf. Jaehyun has to admit that the man is quite attractive from the side. His slightly tanned skin gleams under the fluorescent lights and he has quite a sharp jawline and high cheekbones. What catches Jaehyun’s eyes are his legs. He has very long legs which fit his pants very nicely and Jaehyun has to will himself to look away from the rest of his lower body. He diverts his attention back to the ice-creams and picks a strawberry bar for Jeno.

As he pulls back the freezer door to close it, he hears the soft click of a camera shutter. Jaehyun pauses, noticing from the corner of his eye that the young man is bent over while he takes a drink from the cooler. Then he hears another click from his left.

“I would delete those photos if I were you,” Jaehyun tells the man, his voice flat.

The man is surprised by Jaehyun’s confrontation but he pockets his phone and pretends to be looking at the items on the shelf. “Hey, dirtbag,” the agent hisses, grabbing the man by the collar.

“You’re crazy, let go of me!” the man demands, attempting to break free from the agent’s hold. But Jaehyun swiftly turns the man around and slams him forward onto the freezer, restraining his arms. The man’s phone falls out from his pocket onto the floor and before Jaehyun can pick it up, the young man from the cooler appears and picks it up instead.

“Give that back!” the creep desperately cries out but the young man nonchalantly grabs his thumb and unlocks the phone.

“Wow, you’re really an A-tier dirtbag,” the young man drawls as he scrolls through the dirty photos in the phone. Most of them are photos of good-looking boys that are taken in secret. Jaehyun watches in awe as he selects all the photos in the phone and deletes them in front of the creep’s very own eyes. He then proceeds to drop the phone, making sure that the back with the camera lens hits the ground with a resonating crack. The sound which comes out from the creep is heart-wrenching and even Jaehyun winces when he sees the aftermath of the phone.

The young man walks away without a word and Jaehyun releases the creep to pay for his strawberry bar, leaving him to mope over the remains of his phone.

 

Jaehyun finds the young man at the cashier, paying for his drink and a few variations of chocolate bars. He stands beside him to pay next. “Thanks, by the way,” the young man says to Jaehyun with a smile, completely different from his pissed off face from earlier. He has a deep and husky voice, which is a contrast from his innocent appearance.

“No problem,” Jaehyun replies, grinning back. “You seem like you’ve crushed many phones before.”

The young man laughs and shakes his head, “Well, it has happened more than once. So I’m kind of used to this.” He extends his hand to the part-timer to pass her the money for his things.

Jaehyun’s mouth forms an ‘o’ as he places the strawberry bar on the counter. “Does it usually end up like that?” he asks, nudging his head towards the man still moping about his broken phone.

“Not really. I mean, it’s not everyday that I get saved by someone really attractive,” the young man replies with a flirty grin.

Jaehyun turns red and lets out a cough to hide his embarrassment. The man chuckles at his reaction and Jaehyun quickly pays for his strawberry bar. They both leave the mart with their items, walking back out to the dimly-lit street.

“Will you be okay?” Jaehyun asks, jamming his hands in his pockets to stop himself from fidgeting.

The young man smiles. “Yes, I’ll be okay. I’ll be meeting my friend so I won’t be alone,” he tells Jaehyun, “By the way, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“It’s Jaehyun,” he replies.

“Jaehyun,” the man repeats, familiarising the name on his tongue. “I’m Sicheng. It’s nice to meet you.”

 _Sicheng_. It is nice to finally put a name to such an attractive face. Jaehyun fails to keep himself from grinning like he just won an Oscar. “It’s nice to meet you too, Sicheng,” he says.

The two part ways after saying their goodbyes. Jaehyun walks back to his car with Jeno’s strawberry bar in a plastic bag. He cannot stop thinking about Sicheng during his drive home and it has been awhile since Jaehyun has kept thinking about people who are not suspects of a case.

A sudden realisation dawns upon him and it makes Jaehyun groan and hit his head on the steering wheel – he has forgotten to ask for Sicheng’s number.

“Way to go, Jung Jaehyun,” he mutters to himself as he sulks gloomily throughout the drive home.

 

When Jaehyun reaches home, he finds Jeno sleeping in the living room sofa with all the lights on, even the one in the bathroom. His stuffed lion makes a reappearance on the sofa even though Jeno has been insisting that he is too old for soft toys.

“Hey, kiddo,” Jaehyun whispers, getting on his eye level and gently nudging the boy.

“Hmmph?” Jeno mumbles as he slowly opens his eyes, “Dad?”

Jaehyun smiles, stroking the boy’s hair. “I’m home,” he softly tells him, “Sorry for being late...”

“But you’re super late,” the boy replies sleepily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He crosses his arms after and looks at Jaehyun with an upset frown. “I was really scared…”

The agent holds up the plastic bag containing the strawberry bar which he bought. “Forgive me?” he pleads, mustering his best begging face.

Jeno takes the plastic bag, keeping a straight face. “You’re forgiven for now,” he announces.

“Just for now?” Jaehyun asks, his eyes widening in mock disbelief.

The boy tries to keep his stubborn stance but he fails as he immediately caves in, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he giggles. “You’ll always be forgiven,” Jeno says, throwing his arms around Jaehyun and hugging him tightly.

Jaehyun chuckles and hugs Jeno back. “Thank you, Jeno yah,” he whispers to the boy, caressing his hair.

‘ _I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, I promise…_ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this while having criminal minds in mind so a lot of the things here are inspired by that. also, i hope that the cuts between present and past are not too confusing!!


	3. before the worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NCT Unit finally finds out who they are up against. Jaehyun does what he thinks is best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢs: minor character death, graphic descriptions of violence

“Rise and shine, kiddo!”

Jeno tucks himself deeper into his blanket when Jaehyun draws the blinds in his room to let in the sunlight. His efforts are in vain as Jaehyun pulls the blanket off. “Come on, the track is not going to run itself!” Jaehyun exclaims, shaking Jeno to wake him up.

“5 more minutes,” Jeno groans, taking his pillow and hugging it in front of his face. He yelps when Jaehyun practically tugs him by the legs and pulls him off the bed.

“Come on, you can use those 5 minutes to get ready,” Jaehyun tells a grumpy Jeno sitting at the foot of his bed. When the boy does not budge, Jaehyun teasingly adds, “I’ll let your lion join you in the shower.”

Jeno’s eyes immediately fly open and he glares at Jaehyun. “We do not bring Aslan into this. I’ve outgrown him,” he says.

“That’s not what I saw yesterday,” Jaehyun teases as he leaves the room before Jeno can throw a pillow at him.

* * *

 

Their Saturday routine consists of a morning jog around the neighbourhood park a few minutes away from their apartment complex. Jaehyun has been doing morning runs even before he joined the police academy so it somewhat became routine for him to run at least once a week, and Jaehyun is not one to break routine. Jeno sometimes joins him when Jaehyun manages to pull him out of bed. When Jeno sleeps, he becomes dead to the world. The boy can sleep the whole morning away if no one wakes him up, just like his mother.

They both manage to run four rounds before taking a break near a cart shop. Jaehyun buys isotonic drinks for the both of them and they sit at a nearby bench to rest.

“Anything up for the weekend?” Jaehyun asks Jeno, watching as the boy tries to flip his bottle so it stands upright.

“Jaemin’s parents bought him a new game on his PS4 so he invited me over to play it,” Jeno replies, more absorbed in flipping his bottle.

“Jaemin’s the one who lives in Gangnam right?” Jaehyun asks and Jeno nods.

Jeno finally flips the bottle with much success and leaves it on the ground. “But I’m not sure if I want to go to his house,” Jeno tells Jaehyun, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his palm, “His parents are gonna be home and they are really, really friendly.”

Jaehyun remembers bumping into the parents at parent-teacher meetings. They seem very supporting of their son, with the mother heading the parents’ support group (which Jaehyun has not been very active in). “What’s wrong with friendly?” Jaehyun asks curiously.

“Nothing’s wrong with friendly,” Jeno sighs, “It’s just that sometimes it gets really obvious that they are pitying me.”

Jaehyun knows that Jeno hates being pitied on more than anything. He has heard people tell Jeno how sorry they are that he has only had one parent throughout his whole life. The boy brushes them off with his optimism and cheerfulness but Jaehyun knows that the comments make Jeno realise just how unusual his life is.

Jeno tilts his head to stare at Jaehyun with his deep dark eyes. “Are you thinking about how I’m feeling about all this again?” he asks in an amused voice.

“You can’t be okay with this, right?” Jaehyun asks, rubbing the back of his neck. He always gets very worried about how Jeno takes all this in at such a young age.

“Dad, I’m really okay with it, I promise,” Jeno tells him. He leans into Jaehyun’s side and clings onto his arm, smiling cheerfully. “There’s nothing bad about being your kid,” he says.

“Since when did you get so mature,” Jaehyun chuckles, ruffling the boy’s hair, “You’re growing up too fast.”

Jeno smiles, his eyes disappearing into crescent moons. “The only bad thing about you is that you stink really bad after a workout,” he adds, wrinkling his nose, “No wonder you haven’t gotten any dates yet-”

The boy’s words are replaced by screams as Jaehyun smothers his face under his armpit. Trust Jeno to ruin the moment by rubbing Jaehyun’s non-existent love life in his face. “Being single is a choice,” Jaehyun states.

“If it is, why do you keep complaining about it?” Jeno eggs him on. “Don’t tell me that there hasn’t been a guy that you like looking at.”

Jaehyun’s preference is not a secret between the both of them. He never explicitly told Jeno about it because the boy simply knows. When Jeno was in elementary school, he had a female teacher who was very involved in his school life. It turned out that the teacher was more interested in getting to know Jaehyun. But Jaehyun being Jaehyun, he was very oblivious to the teacher’s attempts at flirting and hitting on him whenever he picked Jeno up from school. Apparently Jeno felt very sorry for her and during a parent-teacher meeting when the teacher was suggesting a house visit, he decided that this torture should end. “Teacher, I’m really sorry but my dad likes men,” he piped up, shocking both the teacher and Jaehyun. Needless to say, the teacher never spoke a word to Jaehyun ever again. Jaehyun had to tell Jeno that he should not have told her that; he should not even tell anyone about it. The boy did not understand why that should be the case and pestered Jaehyun for days. Jaehyun just told him that he would understand when he was older (He cannot help but think that perhaps this had contributed to Jeno’s obsession with growing up).

Jaehyun rolls his eyes at the boy when he sticks his tongue out at him teasingly. “I don’t need to tell you that,” he huffs, taking a shot at his drink. When he finishes it, he catches the boy smirking at him.

“What?”

“You’re so obvious,” the boy simply says as he gets up and leaves a dumbfounded Jaehyun on the bench.

* * *

 

Jaehyun receives a phone call from Taeyong after dropping Jeno at his friend’s house. He answers it nonchalantly, thinking that the chief was going to talk to him again about not letting anyone know about his whereabouts yesterday. “Hey, how was the date yesterday,” Jaehyun asks as soon as he picks up the call.

He can practically hear Taeyong’s grimace on the other side of the call. “You’re an asshole. I’m not telling you anything,” Taeyong flatly says to which Jaehyun laughs. “Anyway, where are you now?”

“I’m at Gangnam,” Jaehyun replies. “What’s up?”

“Come up to Hongdae,” the chief tells him.

“Why? Do you want me to be your wingman now?” Jaehyun teases and Taeyong can only manage a sigh.

“Just get your ass here as soon as you can.”

 

When Jaehyun arrives at Hongdae, he notices that there are police cars parked around. Jaehyun parks his car near Taeyong’s bike and walks towards where there are a lot of people crowding behind a police tape. Beyond the tape is an alleyway which is the dumpster site for some of the nightclubs in the area. There is a white tent standing in the middle of the alley and some policemen are taking photos and collecting evidence from the crime scene.

Jaehyun spots Taeyong standing next to one of the police officers, having a serious conversation. When Taeyong notices Jaehyun, he beckons for him to come over and lets him under the tape and into the scene.

“I was telling Officer No that we were in the area yesterday around the time it happened,” Taeyong tells him, “They found the body this morning after one of the nightclubs’ staff stumbled upon it when he was running errands.”

“Has he been identified yet?” Jaehyun asks Officer No.

The policeman shrugs his shoulders slightly. “We don’t have a name yet but apparently this guy’s quite well-known by the staff to be a pervert of some sorts,” he explains, “He often comes to the nightclubs and sexually harasses the workers.”

Jaehyun raises an eyebrow at the description. He cannot help but remember the incident at the convenience store the night before. “Can I take a look at the body?” Jaehyun asks, glancing slightly at Taeyong and then to Officer No.

Taeyong’s phone beeps and he looks away to check it as Officer No leads Jaehyun to the white tent in the middle of the alley. He tells the police officers who are sweeping the scene to show the body. Jaehyun’s breath catches in his throat when he sees the body under the tent.

It is the mangled body of the pervert from yesterday. His shirt has been torn open and there are several gashes on his chest and stomach, where a lot of blood has spilled out from. His eyes seem to have been sprayed with a certain substance as they appear dry and shrivelled. His mouth is slightly opened, as if he had been gasping to breathe at the last few moments of his life.

“I saw him yesterday,” Jaehyun recalls out loud when Taeyong comes closer to look at the body as well, “He was stalking this guy at a convenience store a few blocks away from here.”

Jaehyun’s head spins as he thinks about the possibility that Sicheng might be a potential suspect. Even though he could scarily break a phone, he certainly did not look like the type for murder.

Then again, it could not even be Sicheng. The man was known as a pervert anyway, anyone else could have done it on the pretense that the man got what he deserved.

“As of now we haven’t brought in anyone for questioning yet,” Officer No tells them, “We do have a potential suspect. But then again, we’re not even sure if we can catch them.”

“I have a feeling that we’re going to be quite involved in this,” Taeyong mutters. Jaehyun is confused by Taeyong’s statement but he soon understands when he moves back and sees the body from where Taeyong is standing. The slashes on the man’s body are not as random as Jaehyun thought they are. Instead, they make up a figure which Jaehyun knows almost too well.

‘七’ – the mark of Seven.

* * *

 

“It appears that Seven has resurfaced after a very long time.”

Taeyong immediately called for a briefing the moment him and Jaehyun stepped out of the crime scene. When the two of them arrived at the office, Doyoung was already there, setting up the screen. Apparently he was already at the office when Taeyong called. Seulgi arrived ten minutes later in a tank top and jeans, bike helmet in one arm. Dawon could not come down as she had to attend her son’s sports meet.

Pictures of the crime scene at Hongdae are flashed onto the screen as the team sit at the discussion table. The mark carved on the man’s body has been especially zoomed in for everyone to see. The NIS has been after Seven for a very long time. They are a highly dangerous gang, leaving the symbol ‘七’ to mark their territory. Back when the crime syndicate was still active, the probability of finding this mark at a crime scene was very high. Drug dens, murders of innocent civilians and opposing gang members and even human trafficking, Seven was wanted for a number of crimes. The NIS carried out raid after raid all around Seoul to uncover their illicit activities. However, their efforts were in vain as they were not able to find the key people who were running the syndicate. There were several suspects, but there was nothing to prove that any of them were tied to Seven. Before the NIS could exhaust their resources on stopping Seven, they had already dropped from the face of the Earth. The crime rate also started dropping significantly and there were no longer ‘七’ symbols instilling fear in Seoul. As suddenly as they came, they disappeared. It was as if Seven never existed, until today.

“That’s definitely the mark of Seven,” Seulgi confirms. “They couldn’t have chosen a better time to make a comeback. What more with another murderer on the loose.”

“Actually,” Doyoung says, “we might be looking in the same direction for both cases.”

“I’ve been finding everything I can about the supposed tender and saw some companies linked to it. Take a look,” the technical analyst urges, showing the company names on the screen.

One particular name catches Jaehyun’s eye. It is a name which has come up a number of times in the list of suspected Seven members. “Nakamoto,” Jaehyun’s voice is a slight growl as he clenches his fists.

“Nakamoto Group is one of the biggest investors in the tender. It’s quite interesting to note that the founder, Nakamoto Tatsuya, was on the NIS watchlist for his suspected links to Seven,” Doyoung explains, “When Seven disappeared, Tatsuya did as well. So the company is now being run by his son, Yuta.”

“I was skeptical about Seven being involved in this but after what we saw at Hongdae, I’m really sure of it now,” the technical analyst tells the team.

“If it really is true that Seven is involved, we need to tread carefully,” Taeyong says, “We don’t even know what their motives are and what they are aiming for. I know it’s a weekend but now that we know what we’re dealing with, I need all hands to be alert and ready to respond immediately when called.”

 

“Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun turns around and sees Taeyong walking towards him. The chief puts his hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder as he looks at him, worry evident in his eyes. “I know what Seven did to your best friend,” he says, his voice different from the one he used in the meeting room earlier. This time, he sounds gentle, less like the team chief of the NCT Unit and more like Jaehyun’s senior. “This could get very personal on your part. If you feel the need to step out of this investigation, I’m not going to stop you.”

 

It has been quite some time but the memory is still fresh in Jaehyun’s mind. He was out doing patrols by himself when his phone rang. Jaehyun saw that it was Hyejeong and picked it up. “Jae, am I doing the right thing?” she immediately asked when the call connected. She sounded like she was somewhere windy as his receiver picked up a lot of white noise.

“Hey, where are you?” Jaehyun asked, “What’s this about?”

“I’m alone at Hangang,” she told him, her voice calm. Jaehyun immediately sensed that something was wrong.

“You’re alone? Where’s Jeno?” he asked again.

“Jeno’s at home. He was asleep when I left. It’s too dangerous to bring him along,” Hyejeong replied.

“Jeong, what are you talking about? Tell me where exactly you’re at,” Jaehyun urged her, starting the engine of his car.

“Jae, don’t come here. If anything happens to me, you need to be alive for Jeno.”

Jaehyun stopped his movements out of shock. All of the alarm bells in his head were ringing but he could not say anything. “Jeno’s dad, he asked me to meet him here. He told me not to bring Jeno because he could be followed,” Hyejeong continued.

“Jeong, who is this guy?” This was the first time Hyejeong had mentioned about Jeno’s dad since he was born.

“Jaehyun, he said that we could have run away together,” Hyejeong whispered, “Me, him and Jeno. Escape to another country and start anew.”

 _Escape?_ Jaehyun was really frantic now. He put his phone on speaker mode and pressed hard on the accelerator.  “He really tried, Jae,” Hyejeong sobbed, “He really tried to get away from them and you need to know that.”

“Jeong, I don’t care. I’m coming-” He heard the loud bang before he could even finish his sentence. The call ended right after that and Jaehyun pressed his foot harder on the accelerator. His fingers were shaking very badly as he called for backup on his transmitter to be dispatched at Hangang. His heart was beating so hard it threatened to jump out of his chest. He should have known about this sooner. He should have stopped her before she even went to see him. He could not think about anything else other than the fact that he was _too late_.

When he reached Hangang, Jaehyun started sprinting. Hangang was huge and he had no idea where she could be at, but he just ran as fast as his legs could manage. It was 3AM in the morning so there were not a lot of people along the river. He saw her before he even got to her. She was lying on the ground, motionless, her eyes closed. There was a gaping hole in her chest and her shirt was soaked with her own blood. Jaehyun’s legs gave way at the sight and he fell on his knees. She was cold in his arms and Jaehyun’s vision was blurring from the tears in his eyes. “Why, why did you have to do that?” Jaehyun cried as he brought her closer to him, hugging her to his chest and not caring that his shirt was stained with her blood.

There was no mistake in it. Delicately carved on her right wrist was the mark of Seven.

 

“There’s a reason I joined the NCT Unit and that is to see to it that Seven is stopped once and for all,” Jaehyun says to Taeyong, “I understand your worry but you need to understand as well that this is something that I have to do. I can’t guarantee Jeno, Jungwoo and Jisung their safety unless Seven is stopped.”

Taeyong keeps quiet as he looks at Jaehyun before giving his shoulder a squeeze. “Okay,” the chief says at last.

* * *

 

Right after that, Jaehyun ensures that Jeno is under watchful eyes whenever he is at work. Aside from Mark, the college kid who frequently comes over to keep Jeno company, he also asks the friendly couple who lives across from him to help look out for the boy from time to time. Joohyun, his neighbour, pleasantly agrees. “It must be hard to have such a haphazard work schedule. Joonmyun’s always meeting his clients outside his work hours too,” Joohyun says, “You don’t have to worry. Jeno is in good hands.”

Jaehyun only smiles and nods. He does not need his neighbour to know that his paranoia runs deeper than that. If Jaehyun notices the upset look Jeno gives him when he mentions that he will be staying later at work, he does not say anything about it. The faster he finishes this case, the more at ease his heart will be at.

“You’re quite the masochist, you know that,” Seulgi comments when they are on their way to meet one of the CEOs in the list Doyoung showed. Jaehyun is driving while Seulgi sits shotgun, resting her elbow near the car window. “You could have just taken leave off of work and take the kid to a safehouse until this dies down.”

“But for how long will I need to do that for?” Jaehyun asks, turning into the carpark of Baram Corp. “I promised Jeno that no one’s going to hurt him and I’m going to make sure of that.”

They take the lift and walk towards the receptionist sitting at the counter at the lobby. “Hello, how may I help you?” the receptionist beams.

“I’m Special Agent Jung with the NIS,” Jaehyun says, flashing his badge, “This is Special Agent Kang. We arranged an appointment with CEO Oh through Miss Park Sooyoung.”

The receptionist seems to have been flustered by their badges as she stares at the both of them, gaping. Fortunately, a voice calls out to the both of them, “Mr Jung and Miss Kang.”

Jaehyun turns to see a tall girl wearing a pencil skirt with her flowy white blouse tucked into it. She has a pair of round glasses perched on her nose and her long hair is tied up in a bun, showing off much of her neck. Jaehyun does not need to look to know that Seulgi is already checking her out. The girl smiles and slightly bows. “I’m Park Sooyoung, CEO Oh’s personal secretary. Please follow me to CEO Oh’s private office.”

As the girl walks away, expecting Jaehyun and Seulgi to follow, Seulgi lets out a long sigh. “Straight guys are so lucky,” she mutters under her breath.

“Hey, control yourself,” Jaehyun chuckles, following behind Sooyoung.

 

Sooyoung leads the both of them through hallways and corridors. Jaehyun gets the feeling that CEO Oh’s private office is somewhere _really_ private if they had to walk this much just to get to it. They finally reach a polished mahogany door which is guarded by a burly man. Not only that, there is also a keypad on the door. Sooyoung types in the code on the keypad and the door unlocks with a tune. She opens the door and ushers Jaehyun and Seulgi in, closing the door after them.

They are greeted by the CEO’s back facing them as he looks at a digital screen on the wall. It is made to show a scenery of clouds out a window and Jaehyun wonders who the fuck the CEO is trying to fool because they are well underground. “Ah, you’re finally here,” CEO Oh says, turning around. “The NIS. About time.”

Oh Sehun is a handsome young man in his mid thirties. He is charismatic, Jaehyun gives him that, with a profound jawline and a sharp nose. His thick eyebrows are very defined and gives an illusion that they are knitted together. However, the CEO is quite relaxed, offering Jaehyun and Seulgi a seat on the leather couch.

“When Sooyoung told me that the NIS is sending agents down, I was very relieved,” Oh Sehun says, claiming an armchair and crossing his legs in a very chic manner. “It got really crazy after the news of Hojoon hyung’s death came out. I had this room prepared specially for myself and even hired extra protection.”

“I guess now I don’t have to worry as much with the NIS coming to offer me protection as well.”

Jaehyun glances at Seulgi, who is grimacing at the CEO’s self-importance. “Actually… we’re not here to offer protection,” Jaehyun slowly says, “But we have a few questions for you to answer.”

Oh Sehun looks from Jaehyun to Seulgi then to Jaehyun again. “You know how they work, if they know that I’ve given you information, they are going to kill me too,” the CEO hisses. Jaehyun and Seulgi both know this. It is why all the other company directors declined to talk to them when they came. “That’s why Hojoon hyung was killed. He withdrew from the tender and threatened to expose them,” he adds.

“But they threatened him first, didn’t they?” Seulgi asks. “Killing him was a last resort because apparently the blackmail was not working.”

Oh Sehun sighs, leaning back into his armchair. “Hojoon hyung had a very private life. He was willing to keep up a pretend life for the sake of his kids. But you can’t keep urges for so long, you know? At times, you will need to give in too.”

“Hojoon hyung knew very well that they would expose his private life. He patronises the ‘tea houses’ that they run too so of course they would know,” Oh Sehun continues, “But he doesn’t care. Stupid hyung puts his values above everything else. Next thing you know, he’s dead. And now they’re pressuring his son to bid for the tender again or they will expose his father’s dirty little secret.”

Jaehyun catches Seulgi giving him a look. Even though Oh Sehun did not explicitly say it, they both already know what Park Hojoon’s ‘dirty little secret’ was.

 

“So, Park Hojoon was a homosexual,” Doyoung says, tapping his chin with the marker in his hand after adding that information on the case board.

“No wonder Jungwoo was trying so hard to hide it,” Dawon says. She has just gotten back from checking up on Jungwoo and Jisung, making sure that the boys are okay. “His father had a reputation of being a family man. If word gets out that he was actually gay, Jungwoo will feel that he has failed his father for allowing his reputation to be ruined.”

“And now he’s being forced to bid for the tender again as a representative of Park Corp. If he knew why his father withdrew, he would not want to go against what his father believed in,” Jaehyun adds, “Poor kid’s caught in a moral dilemma.”

“Did you actually get to know what this tender is about?” Taeyong asks Jaehyun and Seulgi. Both agents shake their heads. “For a guy who talks a lot, Oh Sehun is not very informative,” Seulgi comments, wrinkling her nose, “If I have to hear him narrate another story again, I will need a new brain.”

“He goes into detail about everything but the tender,” Jaehyun puts in a nicer way. “And we couldn’t ask him much because he had to catch a flight to Japan.”

“Well, that’s nice,” Doyoung comments, looking at the board again.

“Did he say what he’s going to Japan for?” Taeyong asks, his eyebrows knitted in focus.

“He did mention that he needed a break from all of this. He also thinks that Japan is quite safe,” Jaehyun replies, “Anyway it’s a wonder if he doesn’t go to Japan. Almost all the advertisements within a half-mile radius around the building are literally about Japan.”

Dawon crosses her arms as she goes deep into thought. “That’s interesting.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit weird?” Doyoung pipes up, turning to face the team.

“Why do you think so?” Seulgi asks.

“The advertisements all around the building, it’s like a priming effect,” Doyoung theorises, “It’s almost as if someone wanted him to go to Japan.”

“Guess where the bidding for the tender is going to take place,” Dawon tells the team, her lips pulled into a tight straight line.

Everyone knows the answer without Dawon having to tell them. “It’s definitely not coincidence that Oh Sehun is going to Japan,” Taeyong says.

“He’s being set up.”

* * *

 

Not much can be done when their target is overseas. Taeyong can only make calls to International Affairs but until then, the investigation is at a stalemate. It is almost midnight when Jaehyun reaches his apartment. He had received a text from Joohyun saying that Jeno insisted he stayed at home to wait for Jaehyun to come back. The boy can be very stubborn sometimes and Jaehyun finds that he cannot do anything about it once the boy has insisted on having something done.

Once again, the lights are all switched on and Jeno is fast asleep on the couch, hugging Aslan close to his chest. Jaehyun sighs and walks over to the boy. He does not have the heart to wake the boy up and tell him to move to his room so Jaehyun pulls him into his arms and carries him instead. When he has Jeno settled in his bed, Jaehyun pulls the covers over the boy. He bends down to kiss the boy on the forehead, causing Jeno to slightly stir and roll over to the other side of his bed.

 

Jaehyun washes up and does some cleaning around the house, switching off most of the lights which Jeno has switched on. If he does not solve this case soon, he can see his electricity bill soar. His phone beeps at 2AM as he is preparing for bed. He knows that it can only come from one person and reaches over to check it.

 

> **NIS** **Taeyong** 02 10

> IA agreed to help us out. Sending you, Seulgi and Dawon to assist them tomorrow.

  
Jaehyun sighs as he thinks about how he would tell Jeno about this whole situation. It is not that Jaehyun thinks the boy is too young to be hearing all this, but Jaehyun is worried about how he will react when he finds out that Jaehyun is chasing after a gang which is responsible for his mother’s death. To make things worse, his biological father, whom he has never met or heard of before, may be involved in this too.

Jaehyun will be meeting Jeno’s father, who may possibly be a dangerous murderer.

He closes the messenger app and stares at the photo in the background. It is of Jeno when he was 3, playing near the sea. Jaehyun thumbs the photo through the screen, tracing the wide smile with his finger. He thinks back to the sullen boy in the room down the hallway and wonders to himself.

Who is he even doing this for anymore?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it has been so long since i updated so here's a long one!!! sometimes i worry if it's too draggy because there are just too many details that need to be explained. i hope that it's not ; ;
> 
> anyway when i'm not hunched over word i'm on twt so you can pester me there @snugjuns


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